Live and Solo: Dustin's European Adventure (Explorer May 8)

[DandDM]

Casino: plan to be there later and posting photos of my huge winnings!

 

 

Completely real treasure as you enter the casino:

The Tavern, which I completely forgot was on this ship and was confused on another thread when folks were talkng about it. It is the bar everyone passes when first entering the ship on deck 4.

 

The nearly empty promenade when I first boarded

 

If anyone has photo requests, please let me know!

 

Also, It has been five or six years since I was on this ship so I have no idea what was updated during the last dry dock (other than the things posted online, like the slides). 

 

Out of the wind ping pong

 

[DandDM]

Forgot to add the sparkling wine on the cabin post; really like this one, it comes from my (current) home state.

 

 

View of Civitavecchia from the ship

 

Pool deck

 

[DandDM]

Room steward just came by to introduce himself; he mentioned that he would be coming by twice a day. Also confirmed that I was correct to move the coffee machine as there is no power where they put it.

 

The calls are starting on the loudspeakers to get the last passengers to do their muster check in!  I watched the videos while on the train and visited the spot first thing when boarding; so nice to have that taken care of early.

 

Going to rest up for a bit; dinner at 6 in Giovannis.

 

Cheers,

Edited May 8, 2023 by DandDM
Typo

[4Nathan]

Was the sparkling wine a JS perk or Diamond benefit? Or part of a drink package?

[sowhat]

Very disappointed  with food in windjammer on this ship,  better food in the factory canteen  at home. Food cold, dry and very little  variety. Disappointed  at first meal on board 

[DandDM]

1 hour ago, 4Nathan said:

Was the sparkling wine a JS perk or Diamond benefit? Or part of a drink package?

Diamond plus benefit. 

[JessyCruises]

3 hours ago, DandDM said:

Casino: plan to be there later and posting photos of my huge winnings!

 

Completely real treasure as you enter the casino:

Looking forward to hearing what you think about the casino!  When we are not onshore, this is where we will be.  I am hoping they have a nice mix of old and new machines.

 

They have one of those treasure floor things on Grandeur.  I am not gonna lie - it took me a good 3 days to be able to walk on it without almost stumbling - it was throwing off my depth perception or something lol

 

Is the Giovanni's onboard traditional one or the new Giovanni's Italian Kitchen?

Edited May 8, 2023 by JessyCruises

[DandDM]

Random photos at sail away; it started to rain, but didn't stop the party. Most are self explanatory, but noticed that Costa Diadema appears to have the first 'castle as sea'...surprised that Royal didn't beat them to it!  Also, went walking through the casino immediately after sail away, thought it was open because there were a lot of people at the tables. Turns out they were offering lessons on the different games. I snapped a photo of the hours if anyone is interested.

[DandDM]

4 minutes ago, JessyCruises said:

Looking forward to hearing what you think about the casino!  When we are not onshore, this is where we will be.  I am hoping they have a nice mix of old and new machines.

 

They have one of those treasure floor things on Grandeur.  I am not gonna lie - it took me a good 3 days to be able to walk on it without almost stumbling - it was throwing off my depth perception or something lol

 

Is the Giovanni's onboard traditional one or the new Giovanni's Italian Kitchen?

When I walked around earlier, noticed some recent games, like the piggies. Seemed like a decent mix. 

 

Not sure about the Giovannni question...the menu and layout looked the same to me, but I didn't realize there was a new format. I'm about to post some photos and while I didn't photo the menu, I can do that later

[DandDM]

Giovanni's tonight. Very good, even after being in Rome. They tucked me back in a corner, but then some nice folks sat nearby and we talked about our Rome adventures. They did a couple of the same tours I did, just on different days.

 

 

Started out with the charcuterie board. I asked for a small order, for one, and got this

 

Next was risotto with mushrooms; this was my favorite of the meal. Didn't plan on finishing it but couldn't help myself

 

 

Then had chicken piccata. Good, but I was able to stop before finishing it.

 

 

And finished with Cannoli.

 

Oh, and there was bread.

 

 

[DandDM]

Hi Mom and Dad!  Glad you found this website ; Say hi to Luna for me. 
 

working off my phone so quick update. Ship is just now arriving in Naples, should be cleared to disembark in an hour. Foggy, wet and 61 degrees. Checked the pool and not surprised that nothing is reserved. 
 

tried to go to windjammer for a quick snack but it didn’t open until 7am. A small group was waiting (this was around 6:40) and grumbling about the late opening. 
 

ended up in the DL for coffee and a decent spread was set up just before seven. 
 

Photos below: view of Naples from my balcony, state of the pool area, and the DL breakfast. 

Edited May 9, 2023 by DandDM
Autocorrect type

[DandDM]

Walked through the windjammer. Very busy this morning!  I can’t speak to the quality of the food nor the temperature, but everything was open including the omelette station. Plenty of bacon. Some photos to follow. 

[DandDM]

Waiting for my tour now, going to Pompeii and Hercules on a tour organized by someone on the roll call. 
 

last night visited the casino and it was pretty brutal. Very few wins and they were small. Moved a few times and eventually got free spins and recouped some of my losses; cashed out and left. 
 

went to welcome aboard show and it was a young guy doing ‘BMX acrobatics’. Show was lightly attended and a lot of folks left early. I stayed as I didn’t want to get sucked back into the casino and glad I did - it got better!  A couple photos - the performer and the empty venue. 

Edited May 9, 2023 by DandDM

[DandDM]

12 hours ago, DandDM said:

When I walked around earlier, noticed some recent games, like the piggies. Seemed like a decent mix.

More to report - very wide range of games from actual reel action, to the old block style screens to pretty modern stuff. None of the cutting edge machines with multiple screens that are now in Vegas, but would guess those are too big. Thankfully no cows. If you anything specific you’d like me to look for, let me know. 

[JessyCruises]

4 minutes ago, DandDM said:

More to report - very wide range of games from actual reel action, to the old block style screens to pretty modern stuff. None of the cutting edge machines with multiple screens that are now in Vegas, but would guess those are too big. Thankfully no cows. If you anything specific you’d like me to look for, let me know. 

Thank you!  Enjoy your excursion today!

[sowhat]

We did MTD  last night
Reservation  at 8.30 pm,  got seated at 9 o'clock,  very slow and disorganised  service.  Waiter never delivered  one of the courses. Food  only lukewarm.
Will try  again tonight for a better experience
Not very impressed  with  food and service on this cruise

[DandDM]

4 hours ago, sowhat said:

We did MTD  last night
Reservation  at 8.30 pm,  got seated at 9 o'clock,  very slow and disorganised  service.  Waiter never delivered  one of the courses. Food  only lukewarm.
Will try  again tonight for a better experience
Not very impressed  with  food and service on this cruise

Everyone else on today's tour was on the Transatlantic right before. A couple of them mentioned that they might have lost weight on that cruise because of the food!

[DandDM]

Bad time for my mom to be reading, you can ignore this one! (just kidding, but I'll probably be getting a check in call...)

 

Today's port is Naples (or Napoli) and choose a tour of Pompeii and Herculaneum. I'll report on that in just a bit, but wanted to share this first. Herculaneum was awesome as they let you get up close to just about everything in the excavation, including the old inlaid tile floors and frescos. They also had very little in the way of safety; well, I managed to slip on some gravel going down some granite stairs and went down hard. Very fortunate that it wasn't worse, just some bloody knees and hands. A number of other tourists in the area immediately came over to help. Initially I was more embarrassed than hurt and realized that this could have been much much worse. Thinking of a long hot shower in a bit, I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow.

 

 

[Kathscof]

14 minutes ago, DandDM said:

Bad time for my mom to be reading, you can ignore this one! (just kidding, but I'll probably be getting a check in call...)

 

Today's port is Naples (or Napoli) and choose a tour of Pompeii and Herculaneum. I'll report on that in just a bit, but wanted to share this first. Herculaneum was awesome as they let you get up close to just about everything in the excavation, including the old inlaid tile floors and frescos. They also had very little in the way of safety; well, I managed to slip on some gravel going down some granite stairs and went down hard. Very fortunate that it wasn't worse, just some bloody knees and hands. A number of other tourists in the area immediately came over to help. Initially I was more embarrassed than hurt and realized that this could have been much much worse. Thinking of a long hot shower in a bit, I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow.

 

 

oh no! feel better!  Hopefully it didn't preclude any more exploring!

[DandDM]

Woke up early this morning and tried to watch us going into the port, but it was raining and hazy per the photo I showed earlier. It was still raining pretty good when we got off the ship, but cleared up while traveling and other than a few quick showers and overcast sky, the rest of the day was good. Here is what greeted us outside the cruise ship terminal. Comment about the terminal - it is confusing. Even after making it out, I still got lost going back!

 

 

This tour was organized through the roll calls and we first class! The price was great and we only had six folks in our private van which gave great flexibility. On the way to Pompeii drove past this art

 

For anyone that doesn't know the history of Pompeii, it was buried under ash when Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Many of the 20,000 residents perished as they really didn't understand what the erupting mountain would do to them until it was too late. The town disappeared to civilization and was not rediscovered until the 1700.  At that time there were not tight controls, so some of the art and materials were taken, but a lot still remains. In fact, about 20% of the city remains under the ash.  I'll attach some of my favorites below.  

 

It is kinda hard to see what photos I'm posting based on the small thumbnails; hope these are good ones!

 

 

 

 

 

[DandDM]

Next up we went to lunch; originally the tour was offered with a classic Naples pizza for lunch, but based on our schedule, the driver recommended lunch at a winery on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius at a place called Cantina Del Vesuvio. The lunch had four wines - sparkling, white, rose and Red; then bread, charcuterie, pasta. and desert. The was ok, the food was great, and the atmosphere amazing. The chicken was the water picture, and I made a new friend. Final photo is the view of the mountain over the vineyards

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by DandDM
photos

[DandDM]

42 minutes ago, Kathscof said:

oh no! feel better!  Hopefully it didn't preclude any more exploring!

Thanks! It did put an end to my exploration of Herculaneum (it was near time to go anyway) but should be fine. Luckily tomorrow is a seaday and I brought a lot of ibuprofen. 🙂

Edited May 9, 2023 by DandDM
typo

[DandDM]

Herculaneum was our next and last stop. We had 90 minutes here and no guide, which was fine for both. After the education we received at Pompeii, understood much of what we saw and the site is not very big. Herculaneum was buried at about the same time as Pompeii (might have been a few days later if I understood correctly); however, houses and other buildings were built over it, so when it was re-discovered, they were slower to excavate, and thus fewer of the archeological treasures were removed. 

 

As I stated above, much more of this site was open and there is quite a few things to see in the small space. Once again, I'll post some examples as I took a few hundred photos of these two locations.

[DandDM]

One thing that was different at Herculaneum, per the tour guide, is that the way volcano affected the area caused some wood to carbonize (that is from memory, could be way off on the correct term).  Below are a few wood items that remain intact today. Found one more photo of some floors that were amazing (and I think it was coming down from this place where I fell).

 

In case my fellow tour mates read this, want to send a shout out as it was a great group! Had a lot of fun and enjoyed meeting you all. Also thanks to Bill for organizing.

 

Cheers,

[DandDM]

52 minutes ago, Kathscof said:

oh no! feel better!  Hopefully it didn't preclude any more exploring!

Just realized why I brought that bottle of wine...going to soak in the tub with a glass right now!